A North Carolina man has sued OpenAI, alleging that ChatGPT helped his estranged wife plan an attempted murder plot against him.
James Gates, who survived the alleged poisoning last year, filed the lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman in San Francisco County Superior Court on Thursday, according to a report by CBS News. Cheryl had hundreds of conversations with ChatGPT during the summer and fall of 2025, increasingly treating the chatbot as her closest confidant, according to the lawsuit. His wife, Cheryl Gates, was accused of attempted murder in the case. She allegedly used it for advice on various aspects of her life, including work, children’s activities, prescription dosages and marital issues. The lawsuit reportedly claims that conversations about her marriage eventually turned into detailed discussions about poisoning her husband. Attorneys alleged that ChatGPT validated Cheryl’s fears, reinforced her suspicions about James and helped turn her intentions into a concrete plan. The lawsuit lists nine causes of action against OpenAI and Altman, including negligent design, negligent failure to warn and intentional infliction of emotional distress. We banned this user and have provided information to law enforcement as part of their investigation into this case.”
“The product validated Cheryl, sustained her, encouraged her plans by affirming her worst unfounded fears, invented new reasons for her to fear her husband, provided her an endless echo chamber, and supplied the operational details of the attempted murder: substances, doses calibrated to her husband’s weight, delivery methods, and how to conceal it,” the lawsuit alleged, as per the outlet. Responding to the allegations, an OpenAI spokesperson told CBS News Bay Area, “Safety is a top priority.
